All posts by rastrear-estafeta.com

Tottenham currently have an exciting set of young players coming through and impressing at youth and senior level this season.

The likes of Dane Scarlett, Ollie Skipp and Japhet Tanganga are academy products who have had first-team involvements, whilst Ryan Sessegnon, Dejan Kulusevski and Christian Romero are all promising talents who have come in from elsewhere.

Whilst the current crop of prospects can get the supporters excited, some fans may look back and wonder what could have been with some of the targets Spurs have had in the past.

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One player the club had a major howler with was midfielder James Maddison in January 2016. Mauricio Pochettino was reportedly keen on a deal to sign the Englishman from Coventry City but ultimately missed out on him as Norwich City snapped him up.

At the time of the move, Transfemarkt valued him at a measly £450k as he was an up-and-coming prospect who had yet to prove himself at senior level.

He spent time out on loan at Coventry and Aberdeen before Daniel Farke handed him his first-team opportunity at Carrow Road. In the 2017/18 campaign, the midfielder thrived under the German coach as he scored 15 goals and provided 11 assists in all competitions for the Canaries.

This earned him a transfer to Leicester in the summer of 2018. Since joining the Foxes, he has scored 41 goals and registered 29 assists in 164 outings, including 14 goals and nine assists in all competitions this term.

Although he has only been capped once by England, Gareth Southgate previously hailed the magician’s “world-class” set-pieces and he has showcased his ability from dead balls for Brendan Rodgers, with six direct free-kick goals in the Premier League to date.

At the time of writing, Transfermarkt now value him at a whopping £45m. This illustrates the phenomenal rise over the years from his time at Coventry, Norwich and, now, Leicester. He has come on leaps and bounds as he has proven himself in the Premier League and is continuing to flourish in the present day.

This shows that Mauricio Pochettino had a major howler by missing out on him in January 2016, as Norwich and Leicester have gone on to profit from his immense talent on the pitch since then.

The size of their blunder can increase as he continues to develop in the top-flight. At the age of 25, he still has plenty of time left ahead of him to improve and hone his skills, proving that Spurs were wrong to opt against a deal to sign him six years ago.

AND in other news, Conte can now axe “truly hilarious” £42k-p/w flop as Spurs eye £33m “difference maker”

Newcastle United are now reportedly eyeing both Steven Gerrard and Paulo Fonseca as their potential new manager.

The Lowdown: Bruce gone?

According to The Daily Mail, the new owners at St James’ Park are now ready to pay the £8m needed in order to pay off Steve Bruce following the takeover so that he can leave his position as the Magpies’ manager.

It is not yet clear whether he will still be in charge when they play Tottenham Hotspur at home in the Premier League next Sunday.

The Latest: Gerrard and Fonseca eyed

As per The Daily Mirror, Gerrard and Fonseca are the latest candidates that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium are seeking to replace Bruce at Newcastle.

The Rangers boss in particular is understood to be ‘intrigued’ by a return to the Premier League, this time as a coach after his legendary spell as a Liverpool player.

The Verdict: Fonseca over Gerrard

If Newcastle had to pick between the two, they should go for Fonseca instead of Gerrard.

The latter has done very well in his relatively short managerial career so far, winning the Scottish Premiership title with Rangers last season, while he averages an impressive 2.11 points per match as a coach.

However, he has no experience of handling big budgets, with his record transfer outlay being Ryan Kent at £6.48m.

On the other hand, Fonseca has bought expensive players before, and so he would be much more suited to the excess of riches that the new manager at St James’ Park is likely to be given.

He also has no fewer than nine major trophies to his name with three different clubs (Transfermarkt) and has been hailed as an ‘international class tactician’ by Sporting director Tiago Pinto.

Hiring Fonseca, who is a well-known name around European football, could certainly help to attract big-name players to Newcastle.

In other news, Newcastle have been dealt this managerial blow

A number of Liverpool supporters have been reacting to Roberto Firmino’s injury, saying the Reds must now sign another attacker in the coming days.

Jurgen Klopp’s team could only draw 1-1 at home to Chelsea on Saturday evening, in what proved to be a thrilling contest at Anfield.

Liverpool couldn’t break down their ten-man opponents for the entirety of the second half, with the Blues defending expertly and the hosts running out of ideas.

[freshpress-quiz id=“359326”]

The Reds suffered a first-half blow when Firmino had to go off with a hamstring injury, with Klopp admitting after the game that the forward will need a scan [via The Times‘ Paul Joyce on Twitter].

It looks as though the Brazilian could now be absent for a number of weeks, potentially highlighting the need for another attacker to come in before deadline day on Tuesday.

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Liverpool fans call for another attacking signing

These Liverpool took to Twitter to react to the injury, calling for business to be done in the transfer market.

“Sign forward now I beg, the only good forward we have right now is Salah and Jota, idk what happened to Mane”

Credit: @dnlfc_

“If we don’t buy one more attacking option, we will end up having another trophyless season. Prove me wrong please”

Credit: @mrafihdyt

“Oh no”

Credit: @concobhar2017

“So it begins”

Credit: @rebekkarnold

“This is just the beginning. yeah we don’t need any new signings”

Credit: @CarloMarlito

“Christ we’re even more done”

Credit: @RHLFC7

In other news, some Liverpool fans are unhappy with Klopp’s recent comments. Find out why here.

This has been an incredibly difficult campaign for Celtic Football Club.

It was meant to be a fresh start for the Hoops who were finally rid of Neil Lennon and Peter Lawwell.

Ange Postecoglou has been appointed as the club’s manager but he’s overseen their worst start to a campaign for 23 years.

After seven matches, they have just ten points and without some of their key men due to injury, appear to be a sinking ship.

Kyogo Furuhashi, Greg Taylor, Callum McGregor, James Forrest and Giorgos Giakoumakis are all currently out.

Any side would struggle without those faces but what only adds insult to injury, is the players they lost over the summer.

Odsonne Edouard has already scored twice for Crystal Palace while Olivier Ntcham and Ryan Christie are starting to perform admirably for Swansea and Bournemouth respectively.

Another player that’s now thriving away from Parkhead is Jeremie Frimpong. Anthony Ralston looks a useful replacement and Josip Juranovic will prove his worth eventually but the full-back areas are a position where Celtic are particularly light for options.

Indeed, that problem came about because of Frimpong’s surprise £11.5m departure to Bayer Leverkusen last January.

The 20-year-old was a vibrant prospect in Glasgow and was dubbed as one of the best young talents he’d worked with by Lennon.

Celtic were given a nice sum of money for the right-back but given his potential and performances for Leverkusen now, it might be seen as somewhat of a blunder from Lawwell to get rid.

Coincidentally, the Bhoys take on his new employers in the Europa League this week.

The German outfit will travel to Glasgow for the second match in the group stages of this competition and it wouldn’t be a great shock if Frimpong runs rampant.

He has been nothing short of sublime for the Bundesliga side this season, assisting four goals in eight outings.

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One of his best displays came during the first group stage match where he supplied two goals against Ferencvaros.

Frimpong was also in vibrant form last weekend as his side defeated Mainz.

The defender created another goal for his teammates in what was a complete performance from an offensive point of view.

The former Celtic man took 106 touches of the ball and with that, he used it to devastating effect. Frimpong was successful with three dribbles while he also played a trio of key passes.

He did surrender possession on 25 occasions but given the result, that shouldn’t matter to their head coach Gerardo Seoane.

That’s certainly one area he’ll have to improve in upon his return to Scotland on Thursday.

AND in other news, Forget McCarthy: Celtic gem who lost possession 20x cost Postecoglou on Sunday…

Southampton have a big chance to secure their second Premier League win of the season at the weekend with a home clash against Burnley next up for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side following on from their 1-0 win over Leeds United last week.

With eight league games played, the Saints have won one, drawn four and lost three, leaving them 15th in the table with seven points on the board.

Sean Dyche’s Clarets side head into the weekend clash at St Mary’s still looking for their first league win of the season, making it an important match for both teams.

Salisu should start v Burnley

One player who was involved in the victory over Leeds that we feel should be in the Saints’ starting XI to face Burnley is Mohammed Salisu, who has been described as “nasty” by Hasenhuttl in recent weeks in terms of competing in duels against opponents on the pitch.

The 22-year-old played the full 90 minutes against the Whites and made three tackles, three interceptions and two clearances, blocked one shot and won eight out of his 12 duels, ultimately earning himself an impressive overall match rating of 7.4/10 from SofaScore.

In addition to this, the £23k-per-week defender (according to Spotrac) has averaged 2.1 tackles and 3.5 clearances per game so far this season, showing how useful a defensive unit he has been for the Saints. Those figures indicate why he should be in the starting XI to face Burnley, as he could potentially bully their forward players with his no-nonsense nature.

Since joining the Saints in August 2020 from Real Valladolid for a reported fee of £10.8m, Salisu has made only 24 appearances for the club across all competitions.

Looking ahead to the Burnley match, though, we think he should definitely be in the starting XI and probably beyond that, particularly while fellow centre-back Jack Stephens is out recovering from the knee injury that he picked up during Southampton’s 0-0 draw against Manchester City last month.

In other news: Southampton could already have their next Gareth Bale in “quality” 17 y/o starlet

As per The Daily Mirror, Tottenham want to re-sign former youth product Noni Madueke, but will need to pay £40m to do so.

The Lowdown: Spurs ramp up plans

There is just a week left of the transfer window as the 20 clubs in the Premier League aim to put the finishing touches to their squads for the campaign.

So far, Spurs have made three new signings in Pierluigi Gollini (tottenhamhotspur.com), Bryan Gil and Cristian Romero, and there could well be more new arrivals to come before Deadline Day if recent reports are to be believed.

The Latest: Spurs eye Madueke

As per this latest report, Spurs are one of ten clubs interested in signing Madueke, who they let go as a youngster, from PSV.

The Dutch outfit, though, are said to be looking for £40m to part ways with one of their star talents.

The Verdict: Right a wrong

In July 2018, Spurs let Madueke make the move to the Netherlands on a free transfer while under the management of Mauricio Pochettino.

Since then, the 19-year-old has developed into a very promising talent. Last term, he managed eight goals and eight assists in 32 matches in all competitions, and he has already found the back of the net six times in eight appearances this season (Transfermarkt).

Former PSV star Gerald Vanenburg even compared Madueke to Paris Saint-Germain star and France World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe – high praise indeed.

£40m is a lot of money for a player they previously let go, but this represents an opportunity for Daniel Levy to right a wrong and land one of the most exciting young attackers in Europe for Nuno Espirito Santo.

In other news, Tottenham are interested in signing this Champions League winner.

Aston Villa are thought to be leading Celtic in the race to sign Bologna left-back Aaron Hickey in January.

The Serie A side will hold a transfer meeting on January 6 to discuss Hickey’s future, according to Tuttosport, via Total Villa.

And, as to be expected, a number of Villa fans have been reacting to the news on social media.

Steven Gerrard has been promised a huge winter window kitty by NSWE and is thought to be an admirer of Hickey, who swapped Scotland for Italy in 2020.

Labelled as a player with ‘quality’ by Bologna manager Sinisa Mihajlovic, the 19-year-old has made 31 appearances for the club – 19 of which have come this season.

Villa currently have two options at left-back in Matt Targett and Ashley Young, but it seems as if they are thinking long-term when looking at a move for Hickey, who is thriving in a top European league at just 19 years of age.

Villa fans react

This is what these Villa fans had to say in reply to Total Villa’s Twitter post regarding Hickey on Wednesday afternoon, with many keen for Villa to bring the youngster to the Midlands.

“Get him in please”

Credit: @jimmystanggren

“Of the players being linked to Villa lately, Hickey is one of the few exciting ones”

Credit: @daviddjuphammar

“The obvious answer for a reserve LB. Cash and Keslar on the right, Targett and Hickey on the left. Will be interesting to see if SG wants a straight swap out for Targett with more attacking prowess.”

Credit: @Ryan__Wills

“@AVFCOfficial sign him.”

Credit: @ZM_AVFC

“Yes please”

Credit: @GarethBarham1

“We would be more likely to get him in the summer!”

Credit: @AvfcGards

In other news: ‘Sounds crazy’ – Many Villa fans react as Gerrard plots move for beast who’d fit ‘top-six’ side. 

Leeds United could revive their interest in Club Brugge’s Noa Lang, Leeds Live’s Joshua Hobbs writes. 

The lowdown

Victor Orta, Leeds’ director of football, reportedly carried out ‘a lot of analysis’ on Lang, only for former manager Marcelo Bielsa to turn down the suggested move.

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The Argentine apparently had concerns about Lang’s contribution off the ball.

Lang, who’s predominantly a left winger but can also play centre forward, has made 42 appearances this season.

He ranks joint-fourth in Club Brugge’s scoring charts with nine, and sits fourth in the Jupiler Pro League assist table with 11.

The Dutchman still has more than three years remaining on his contract and is valued at £19.8million by Transfermarkt.

The latest

Hobbs notes that Jesse Marsch, Bielsa’s successor, has moved away from Bielsa’s man-to-man defensive system and prefers to defend as a unit, and that could make Lang’s supposed shortcomings less of an issue.

He also believes that the 22-year-old, ‘excellent in compacted spaces’, would be well suited in Marsch’s ‘narrow system’.

The move is now ‘more likely’, particularly with Raphinha potentially set to leave Elland Road this summer.

Signing Lang could be part of Leeds’ plan to replace the Brazilian.

The verdict

If Leeds fans are concerned that Lang has only been delivering in a relatively weak league – the Belgian top-flight is the 13th-best in Europe – then they need only look to his displays in the Champions League.

For example, Lang won the Player of the Match award when Club Brugge drew 1-1 with French giants Paris Saint-Germain in September and looked, journalist Zach Lowy noted, ‘like prime Neymar’.

But what about those defensive concerns?

Well it’s true that Lang doesn’t press a huge amount – only 12.81 times per 90 minutes (placing in him just the 16th percentile) – but his numbers for tackles (1.54), interceptions (1.02) and blocks (1.2) are all closer to the average. There’s certainly enough there for Marsch to work with.

In other news, this Leeds transfer target struggled at the weekend.

Tottenham are ‘really serious’ about signing Chelsea centre-back Antonio Rudiger, according to journalist Dean Jones.

The Lowdown: Spurs after a centre-back?

Tottenham have five senior centre-backs on the books at this moment in time, with Conte opting to use left-back Ben Davies as one of three centre-backs in his first two games in charge.

Davinson Sanchez, Joe Rodon and Japhet Tanganga are yet to feature under Conte, with the new boss reportedly making an A-list centre-back a top priority.

Inter Milan’s Stefan de Vrij is one name that has been linked with Spurs, and it seems as if Rudiger could be another who the club go after in the winter window.

The Latest: Jones’ claim

Jones was talking to Give Me Sport regarding Rudiger in a story shared on Monday evening.

He simply said:

“They’re really serious about Rudiger.”

The Verdict: Similar to Conte?

Tottenham will need to do a lot of persuading in order to bring the Germany international across London, in what could be a situation similar to Conte.

The Italian rejected a move to Spurs over the summer but has since had second thoughts and replaced Nuno Espirito Santo earlier this month.

Rudiger has also recently snubbed a move to Tottenham, rejecting both Spurs and West Ham last year, so Daniel Levy and Fabio Paratici may need to work their magic once again for Rudiger to have a change of heart.

Perhaps the offer of a long-term contract and guarantees over playing time could persuade Rudiger, described as ‘phenomenal’ by Rio Ferdinand, especially with his Stamford Bridge contract expiring in the summer at this moment in time.

In other news: Conte and Paratici want to ‘mock’ rivals by signing ‘incredible’ record-breaking beast for Spurs. 

Aston Villa have been tipped by reports to see a number of players move in and out of the club during the upcoming summer transfer window.

Even though there are still a few games left for the Villans to play before the 2021/22 Premier League season draws to a close, it seems as though one current Villa player has already been targeted for a potential summer exit.

What’s the news?

According to a recent report from Football Insider sources, Arsenal are lining up a new move for Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz after failing to land him during the previous January transfer window.

Labelled as an “underrated” player by pundit Ian Wright, the £52k-per-week midfielder is set to see his contract run out in the summer of 2023.

Gerrard would be fuming

Since arriving at the Midlands club back in the 2019 summer transfer window from fellow Premier League side Manchester City in a deal worth a reported fee of £15m, the Brazilian has gone on to become an important figure for the Villans.

With 104 appearances under his belt across all competitions, the 23-year-old has scored four goals and provided eight assists in the process.

Having appeared in 27 league games in this campaign, Luiz has been a regular player for the Villans, leaving John McGinn as the only other midfielder in Steven Gerrard’s squad to have racked up more minutes than the Brazilian.

Earlier in the month, the Villa boss revealed that the former City man is a player that they rate very highly at the club, showing just how keen he would be to see the Brazil international stay at Villa Park.

To highlight just what he offers his side, only McGinn (127) and Matty Cash (156) have a higher number of combined tackles and interceptions than the £31.5m-rated ace (107).

His overall performances for the Villa Park outfit this season have earned Luiz a rating of 6.82 from WhoScored, making him the fifth-highest rated player in Gerrard’s squad.

Taking all of this into account, it’s hard to deny that the 41-year-old would be furious to see the club sell Luiz to another Premier League club this summer rather than tie him down to a new contract.

Also, with 91% of voters in a recent poll ran by Football FanCast claiming the Midlands club should offer the midfielder a new deal, this should be a top priority for the hierarchy at Villa Park.

In other news: Gerrard plotting AVFC offer for “phenomenal” £50m “machine”, it could be bye-bye Ings